Conference title for Hewlett

A once-dormant Hewlett wrestling program is now one of Nassau County’s most respected. The Bulldogs, who cracked Nassau’s Top 10 two seasons ago and followed up with a 12th-place finish last winter, secured their first-ever conference title in convincing fashion on Jan. 21 at Bethpage with a 44-19 victory. They won one match by technical fall, five by decision, and three by forfeit.

“We’ve been knocking on the door for a while and it’s great to win the conference after losing only once to Wantagh and once to Plainedge over the past few years,” Hewlett fourth-year coach Stephen Jones said. “This is definitely the best team we’ve had since I’m here. “There’s a banner on the gym wall for wrestling that’s always been blank,” he added. “Now we can get some writing on it.”

Hewlett, which failed to field a team for nearly 15 seasons beginning in the early 1990s due to budget cuts and lukewarm interest, got back on the mats in 2007 thanks in large part to a community fundraising effort led by Ken Rosenberg and Bill Smith. Enough money was raised to fund the high school and middle school teams for two years, and the district budgeted for it ever since. “There’s such a buzz in the community about Hewlett wrestling,” Jones said. “We’ve gotten tremendous support. We’ve had nice crowds and we’re excited to be hosting one of the county qualifier tournaments on Feb. 7.”

The Bulldogs went undefeated against Conference B-3 rivals, finishing 5-0, and sport an 11-1 record in dual meets this season. Jones believes if everything goes their way Feb. 13 and 15 at Hofstra, winning a county championship tournament isn’t out of the question. “It’s a goal that we’re capable of reaching,” he said. “We’ve been very strong in tournaments. The only Nassau teams to beat us are Massapequa and Long Beach, and they didn’t do it by much.”

Hewlett has nine individuals with at least 20 wins this season, led by two-time state qualifier Owen Bachelder at 138 pounds. Bachelder, a junior captain who two years ago became the first Bulldog to capture a county title, is 32-4.